TRUE CONFESSIONS OF SOMEONE FREAKING OUT!!

Two days left at the newspaper. And I still have crap to take care of there. Clean out my desk. Arrange for COBRA insurance for the next month. Of course all of that can be taken care of when the HR person comes to work.

Movers picked and scheduled for the weekend?. CHECK

Utilities cut off. WORKING ON IT. If only the last two companies I need to notify of my move were open.
Packed up. ALMOST.

Oh yeah, now the truck may be here on Thursday instead of Saturday.

Geez. I thought I was leaving this place to leave this stress behind.

WOW I'M REALLY MOVING

I just got back from Indianapolis where I found a place to live. I settled on a two bedroom place not too far from the office and the airport, called Runaway Bay. I really like it even if the Westside of Indy isn't really the hippest part of town. That said, my friends from the Speedway said they would be taking me to the "hip" places occasionally.

I have five more days at work and my folks are coming to start packing up my stuff tomorrow night. And I'm waiting to hear from movers to see if they can come next week.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

In between all the congratulations I've had over the last few days, I've realized how hard it's going to be to move away from Anderson.

Don't get me wrong. I'm ready to leave. And I'm starting to get more and more stressed about packing up all my belongings and starting someplace where I know less that 10 people every day. But everything around me reminds me of stuff I'm going to miss.

Can't go out to eat, because I'll run into someone who doesn't know I'm moving away. Can't sit around work too long, because someone will bring up the fact that I'm going to miss them. They are probably right. Going away meals. Going to people's houses just because I may not get to again. I could go on and on.

I plan to stay in touch with the many friends I've made here in Anderson. But e-mail and occasional phone calls won't be the same. I'll miss talking about things with so many people. I'll miss going over to someone's place to play Trivial Pursuit and laughing about the dumbest things. I'll miss watching my friends' children grow up.

I'm sure I'm going to miss newspapers and I may even miss the weird hours, but most of all, I'm going to miss the people. I've got a little version of a family right here, even though I'm so far from home. And leaving it will really be hard.

THE BIG NEWS

Well, I've made a big decision. I am leaving Anderson -- my home for the last four years -- after accepting a position with the Indy Racing League. I'll be moving to Indianapolis by the beginning of next month.

It's going to be a very hectic few weeks for me as I try to wrap up my time here in Anderson and prepare to move to Indianapolis. But I'll try to get everyone updated contact information as soon as possible.

NO NEWS YET

I mentioned there'd be big news soon. Well I don't have news yet, but to let you in on the secret, I went on a job interview last week.

I went in Indianapolis on Friday to meet with the Indy Racing League about an opening it has in media relations. I think it went well. It's strange to interview for a job with people who you've had a past relationship with. I know the people at the IRL pretty well and though I only talked to a few people for a little bit of time, they know who I was. There were no break the ice questions, just nuts and bolts of the job.

I think I spent more time chatting with people I've already met than actually trying to impress people. Still I left Indy thinking I'll probably have a job offer in my hands by midweek.

And now I wait... and wait.

It's kind of like that scene in Swingers, where they try to figure out how long Mikey should wait before he calls a girl. Should I wait two days? Three days? Does anyone know the industry standard before beginning pester mode?

CUSTOMER OF THE MONTH

I guess I've been going to McGee's Irish Pub a little over the last four years here in Anderson. I've been named customer of the month for January. I get a bar tab and a little plaque to put on the bar. I know it doesn't compare to the award Geoffrey got, but at least it's an award.

On another note, I had a tad bit of an embarrasing moment here at work. My pants got torn. I don't really know when. They were intact when I put them on. I must have snagged them on the chair when I sat down, but anyway, a coworker pulled me aside and told me about it. Needless to say, I went home and changed.

If that's the worst thing to happen to me this week, then it should be a good week. Think good thoughts for me this week. There may be big news soon.